Improvement in railway-car brakes



J. SVTEGER. Railway Car Brake.

No. 99,257. Patented Jany 25, 1870.

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N. PETERS. Mmcomhognpher, Hummm". ILC.

lintrd garnet JOSEPH STEGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 99,257, dated .mmary 25, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To' all whom it may concern Beit known that I, JosnPH S'rnenu, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof', which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming part of this specification, in which drawing- Figure lis au inverted plan view of a car-brake, constructed according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional side view of the brake in its natural position. i

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

rllhis invention relates to car-brakes, of that class where power exerted at either end of a car, to arrest its motion, is caused to act on the brakes at both ends, or upon both trucks; .and

My invention consists in operating both sets of brakes, or the brakes at both ends lof a car, by shortening the connection which unites the two sets, and thereby operating both sets simultaneously, when the operation is etiected by means of a lever, which is set in motion and caused to act on said connection by a continuous cord or chain, which extends the length of the car or a train of cars.

The letter A designates the middle portion of the iioor of a car.

The letter B designates the usual transverse levers of the two sets of brakes, which are in practice connected by one end to the brake-heads of their respective brakes, (not here shown,) and by their other end to the windlasses at the ends ofthe car.

These transverse levers B B are connected to each other, as usual, by a connection,'C, so that any power applied to either, through its appropriate windlass, can be transmitted to the other, but instead of making that connection rigid throughout, I make it for the whole or for part of its length, of such material as can be bent out of a straight line, as of a cord or chain.

y In this example, I have made the connection O of a cord at its central part, and of rigid rods at its ends.

The connection C, or its iiexible portion runs over anti-friction rollers D D, which are placed u suitable distance apart, so as to permit a' lever, E, of the second order, to' move down between them.

This leverE is pivoted at one end, between brackets or hangers F F, projecting from the bottom of the car, and it extends past the pulleys D D, and over the connection C, until its free end reaches or intersects the plane in.w hich the lever G moves, its free end' being connected, by a link, H, to said lever G. Y

The lever G is of the class known as the first order, having its fulcrum between hangers I I, that depend from the under side of the car.

One end of thel lever G is attached to the link H, and the other carries a pulley, J, under which passes a cord or chain, K, that extends from one end of the car to the other, or if there is more than'one car, from one end of the train to the other.

The fulcrum of lever G is adjustable, so thatt'he distance between its-ends and its fulcrum can be increased or diminished, respectively, and the fulcrum of lever E is also -adjustable, so that itcan be moved nearer to or fart-her away from the plane in which the connection C is situated.

In the same plane with the lever Gare two pulleys L M, which have bearings in hangers N N, that are placed a suitable distance apart, so that the pulley J, which vibrates below them, will be intermediate the pulleys L M.

The contin nous cord or chain K passes over pulley L, thence beneath the vibrating pulley J, thence over pulley M, whence it is taken to the other cars of the train, whose brakes it can be made to operate on the same principle herein described.

The operation is as follows:

Strain being put upon the continuous cord or chain K, the lever G is vibrated, the end having the pulley J being drawn upward,and the other end being moved downward, so as to pull the lever E down against the connection C, which thereby becomes bent upon and between the pulleys D D, so that its length in a straight line is shortened, and in consequence thereof, the brake-levers B B are moved to operate the brakes simultaneously. Of course, the same means can be used to operate a single set of brakes, but in this example I have illustrated my invention in connection with brakes at each end of a car.

Instead of bringing the lever E directly in contact witltthe connection C, the same result can be produced by the use of a tightening-pulley, so arranged as to come above the connection O, in the position now occupied by t-he lever E.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desirel to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The lever E, pivoted at one end, bearingl at a point between its ends against the cord or chain C,

and 'connected at its free end with the operating-lever G, and arranged substantially as and for the purpose described. l

2. The continuous cord or chain K, in combination with the lever G and lever E, and connection O, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JOSEPH STEGER.

lVitnesses W. HAUFF, E. F. KASTENHUBER. 

